The background description provided herein is solely for the purpose of generally presenting the context of various illustrative embodiments of the disclosure. Aspects of the background description are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the claimed subject matter.
A swivel is a surface-mounted component in a drilling rig which is operated to drill a subterranean hydrocarbon production well. The swivel may function as the entry point for drilling fluids and as a load transfer point between the drill string and the rig. In some applications, the swivel may be used as a data gathering point for logging the well and for monitoring drill string dynamics.
The swivel may include multiple curved swivel segments which are rotatable with respect to each other. Multiple ball bearings may be seated in ball bearing grooves between the interfacing swivel segments. Periodic assembly and/or disassembly of the swivel may be necessary for cleaning, maintenance and/or replacement of the various components of the swivel. Conventional methods of assembling the swivel may include placing a first swivel segment in a vice and attaching the remaining swivel segments with ball bearings to the first swivel segment. The assembled swivel is then removed from the vice and attached to the drill string. Disassembly of the swivel may be carried out in like manner. However, conventional techniques and methods for assembling and disassembling a swivel are laborious and time-consuming. Moreover, the ball bearings have a tendency to be inadvertently dropped during installation, resulting in their frequent loss or displacement.
Accordingly, swivel assembly and disassembly apparatuses and methods for expeditiously assembling and disassembling swivels for hydrocarbon production wells are needed.